U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum to present ‘What You Do Matters’ event

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will present its 2021 What You Do Matters Southeast virtual event on Feb. 11.

The event, which begins at 7 p.m., will feature special guests Morgan Freeman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Alexander, Ray Allen and other celebrities.

The museum’s goals for the event, which normally takes place annually as an-person dinner in South Florida, are to inspire others to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and to help combat modern-day hatred and anti-Semitism.

Robert Tanen, director for the museum’s Boca Raton-based Southeast regional office, said remembering the Holocaust is so incredibly urgent and important.

“We know the survivor generation will not be here forever, and those numbers are slowly dwindling as the population slowly leaves us, so it’s really up to the next generation and future generations to really hold up that candle and carry that mantle of memory of this critical history,” he continued.

Tanen added, “The history of he Holocaust has lessons for all individuals, regardless of background, race, creed, gender and orientation.”

“It has lessons for all of us on how to be upstanding citizens today,” he said.

Tanen noted the celebrities at the event will read Holocaust survivor and, in some cases, liberator testimonies based on the museum’s archives.

“The voices of these celebrities really speak truth to power and show the sheer importance of remembering this history, even at a difficult time when we can’t be together in person,” Tanen continued.

The event features contributions from nine sets of chairs representing cities and states across the Southeast United States. There will be several survivor stories that will be presented, including that of Holocaust Survivor Band co-founder and Coconut Creek resident Saul Dreier.

“It is very important right now for people to watch the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum event, because right now I support this museum and would love to be present at anything that happens with the museum to remember the Holocaust by sharing my story,” Dreier said.

Among the event’s chairs are Susan and Steven Breitbart of Cooper City and, from Boca Raton, Tracey and Robert Slatoff, and Rose M. Smith.

“These three sets of South Florida chairs are deeply committed to the mission of our institution,” Tanen said.

Steven Breitbart said, “I think this year, the event provides us with a unique opportunity, because in past years when we supported and promoted the event, it was limited to people who live here locally as it was a formal sit-down dinner.”

“Now, we have the opportunity to possibly involve a lot more people from around the the country, and this could potentially open more eyes to what the museum does,” he continued.

Susan Breitbart said, “I think the presentations at the event are going to open the eyes of a lot of people who might not have known that much about the Holocaust.”

“The event will also open people’s eyes about genocide prevention and things that are current right now,” she continued.

Tracey Slatoff said, “We’re so honored and excited that we’re able to still be able to have this event despite the circumstances, and I’m proud to share the stage virtually with my husband who contributes so much to the museum and has really brought our whole family into the museum.”

“His involvement over the years has gotten us all connected to this cause,” she said.

Robert Slatoff said, “I have several different goals for getting involved with the museum.”

“One of my deep concerns is when we stop talking about the Holocaust and the lessons that we learned from history, history repeats itself,” he said. “I want to make sure we educate people about the horrors of the Holocaust and how it happened, and to make people understand this was not an inevitable event. It was an event that was avoidable.”

Robert Slatoff continued, “When the Nazis took over, Germany was a democratic country and they voted the Nazis into power, and we need to always learn and understand from history the horrors that can happen.”

“I also feel we have an obligation to honor the people who were killed during the Holocaust and those who suffered and lived to talk about it,” he said.

Advance registration for the event is required at ushmm.org/online-calendar.

Contact the Southeast regional office at 561-995-6773 or southeast@ushmm.org for more information.